When all of SKT's players walked onto the stage, the camera "appropriately" cut to the empty seats on the other side.
Then it panned across the arena, lingering—refusing to switch to TES's training room feed.
Maybe it was a silent protest.
But it had no effect on the match itself—especially since TES originally planned to withdraw and was later invited back by LCK and Riot.
They even made huge concessions, agreeing to let TES play online.
Of course, these were things the LCK side absolutely couldn't bring themselves to say out loud.
So the only one who publicly admitted it was Riot.
In that situation, Korean viewers directed the pressure at Riot, claiming Riot "pampered" LPL too much.
That the rules were basically made for them.
Even the earlier rematches were just for show—so Riot wouldn't face even greater pressure internationally.
When the empty seats appeared on the big screen, the Korean crowd booed nonstop.
The continuous jeers made the Chinese international students furious.
"Just wait. Tu Bro will pin Faker to the ground and beat him. I hope you'll still be able to laugh then."
But they stayed calm.
Before the match ended, nobody knew who would win, so there was no need to rush into a fight—especially since this was SKT's home field.
On the LPL official broadcast, today's casters were Guan Zeyuan, Miller, and Rita.
"I think everyone's been waiting for this match since MSI began," Miller said excitedly. "Blue side TES versus red side T1. And Dine and Faker are the two best-performing mid laners right now."
"In groups, Dine looked completely relaxed. Even in yesterday's two games, he didn't fully show his strength. I'm curious what he'll look like today."
"As for Faker, everyone knows him," Guan Zeyuan jumped in. "Three-time world champion, the Demon King in the eyes of LoL players worldwide. His Zoe yesterday made me feel like I was dreaming back to S5—the era of controlling thunder."
"Every year people say he's done, but every year his performance is still outrageous…"
Yes, SKT making Worlds again did surprise people, but in recent years their best Worlds finish was only top four.
You could call it a form rebound, not a true return to peak.
The three casters traded lines back and forth.
Then the broadcast finally reached the BP screen.
Compared to the live arena feed, it was still noticeably delayed.
At this point, TES had already banned Jayce, Graves, and Kalista.
SKT banned LeBlanc, Syndra, and Lucian.
SKT's goal was crystal clear: give Lin Fan no room to operate.
LeBlanc and Syndra create huge early pressure.
Faker's laning fundamentals were still solid, but his champion pool was more limited now.
Against explosive mid picks and elite players, nobody could feel fully safe.
So SKT wanted to give him the most comfortable lane possible.
They also saved counterpick for Faker.
TES's plan was equally clear.
No hesitation—immediately first-pick Draven.
The moment that champion showed up, the tone of mid lane was basically set too.
Mid-jungle had to share bot pressure.
Either roam powerfully, or crush lane so hard the opponent collapses.
So TES locked in Twisted Fate mid.
After several rounds of picks, the comps were set:
Blue side TES:
Top Kennen, jungle Hecarim, mid Twisted Fate, bot Draven + Leona.
Red side SKT:
Top Gwen, jungle Viego, mid Zoe, bot Zeri + Lulu.
Both sides had their own focus points.
Most importantly, SKT got the mid-lane matchup they wanted.
TES still didn't "reveal" anything special—same style as before.
This first clash felt more like probing each other, with no extra tricks planned.
Level 1 was peaceful.
Both sides grouped defensively, no invade.
Zoe's Q makes her one of the best waveclear mids early.
Twisted Fate needs levels—Wild Cards plus Red Card before he can clear waves comfortably.
Normally, by level 6, with rank-3 Q, he can clear a wave with two Qs.
Only then do roams really open up.
In that sense, the designers built Twisted Fate fairly.
But… they ignored one thing:
His early lane is too weak.
Plenty of Twisted Fate players die before they even hit level 6.
Once you die once, you often can't recover.
No ult mobility, no lane strength—that's the tragic life of a utility mid.
So people expected TF into Zoe to be painful early, not comfortable at all.
TL: TF is Twisted Fate
But the lane phase surprised everyone.
Twisted Fate looked very comfortable.
He stabilized his HP, didn't lose wave control, and—most importantly—Zoe's HP kept dropping.
Plus, Hecarim kept appearing from the side, silently pressuring Faker.
Suddenly, even pushing and trading became a problem.
Lin Fan didn't care.
One more passive-empowered auto.
Instant yellow card.
Wild Cards—full combo.
Zoe's HP chunked again.
How could Faker tolerate that?
He had to trade back.
He stepped up, cast E—unfortunately, the Sleepy Trouble Bubble missed.
But the Q on the return path landed, so overall it wasn't a disaster.
You could see Faker's Zoe feel was genuinely hot.
Still sharp.
Also… the one getting beaten hardest was him.
Zoe stepping up to pull Q gave Twisted Fate room to chase.
Normally, a trade ends after the spell hits.
But as Zoe backed off, Lin Fan kept autoing.
Each TF auto shaved 45 HP.
Once the passive proc came, it hurt even more.
Zoe's HP dropped from four-and-a-half bars to just two.
Faker watched TF start cycling cards again and felt a surge of dread.
I'm going to die.
If I get stunned, I die.
No hesitation—Flash.
Faker's judgment was correct.
If he got stunned, he was dead.
But even without being stunned, he still couldn't escape.
Tian had been waiting on the flank the whole time.
He hadn't moved earlier because Lin Fan said he could solo-kill, so Tian didn't interfere.
Why would a jungler come steal a solo kill? First blood assist is only 200 gold.
What's more important than Fan-ge solo-killing?
But now Faker had burned Flash.
Lin Fan didn't want to burn his own Flash—no need.
Hecarim could finish the job cleanly.
So the moment the charging horse appeared from the side, Faker felt pure despair.
With no Flash, there was no way to evade the follow-up chase.
Hecarim kicked him back, Lin Fan chained Gold Card.
Zoe got stunned in place.
Faker switched his camera off mid lane and checked teammates—especially wanting to see where Viego was.
Hecarim had visited mid multiple times already, and now he directly came to kill me.
So what the hell are you doing?
Oner had just started moving down from top.
These minutes he really had done nothing but farm.
Because as long as Kennen held E, you couldn't realistically gank him.
And Zoom's biggest strength was simple: he doesn't die easily.
With a mid and bot this strong, all he needs is to give no openings and wait for teamfights to win.
If you want to "lie down and win," it's actually easy—just die less, don't feed your lane opponent.
Even if you fall behind 30 CS, it's better than giving kills.
Minion and turret gold are fixed.
Without kill injections, your lane opponent can't skyrocket.
Zoom understood this deeply, which is why his deaths were always low.
Sometimes a championship roster isn't five superstars.
But every role has its own advantage.
Stability—refusing to give the enemy a lead—is already an extremely valuable skill.
Zeus kept looking for solo kills, but never found a chance.
And expecting Gwen to build a massive CS lead over Kennen was unrealistic—melee versus ranged is right there in plain sight.
Viego finally came mid.
But Oner didn't dare touch Faker's wave.
He only last-hit two minions that tower was about to take, then immediately left when he saw Teleport lighting up.
Faker returned to lane, but he wasn't comfortable anymore.
The jungle gap had shown itself.
TES had Twisted Fate + Hecarim.
He only had Zoe.
Was it like Aatrox said—was he just destined to die? To get camped by enemy mid-jungle like this?
Tian got his 200 gold "side hustle" and felt great.
On recall, he bought a Control Ward and placed it near mid.
Fan-ge paid for it.
Using it for Fan-ge was perfect.
With that ward plus his trinket, defense was maxed out.
Even if SKT wanted to force something, TES would see it immediately.
Oner also felt Faker's attitude turning cold.
And since he was getting gapped, he knew he had to show some presence.
So he snuck in from the side.
Unfortunately, he was seen the whole way by vision.
Lin Fan simply stood still and waited for Viego to come.
With mental prep, he calmly dodged the control—and even had time to flash the team logo.
Oner was furious when he saw it.
This was way too disrespectful.
Today he would hard-camp this TF.
If he didn't make TF go 0–8, this game wouldn't end!
Oner planned to clear a camp near mid, then loop back for another gank.
But Lin Fan didn't give him that chance.
The wave went in, and TF vanished from mid.
Oner and Faker spammed question marks.
Where did TF go? They couldn't judge.
But Lin Fan didn't roam.
He recalled to buy.
No need to say more—core TF item: Dark Seal.
Whether kills or assists, the value is absurd.
Then he bought an Amplifying Tome and Boots, and immediately Teleported to the top tower.
From the spectator view, Hecarim had already wrapped behind.
But he didn't engage instantly.
Kennen + Hecarim damage was still a bit thin; it might be slightly short.
They needed TF to add damage—especially after item refresh.
Zeus had no idea Twisted Fate had teleported top.
Since TF wasn't seen on the minimap, the obvious guess was that he recalled to buy and walked back to lane.
That costs a few minions but preserves TP, which is "worth it."
It also means you have TP to respond to dives later.
You can't TP to minions early, but you can TP to towers.
Once Lin Fan was in position, Tian started from behind.
"S**t…" Zeus cursed.
But the moment he saw Twisted Fate appear from the front, he knew he had zero play.
Zeus instantly went black screen—no gameplay at all.
Hearing the top-lane disaster, and seeing TF got the kill, Faker's face darkened.
It made him look like he was just sitting mid doing nothing.
And this TP gank top was something nobody expected.
Because before 14 minutes, TP is mostly just for lane return.
Suddenly using it to gank top—people don't react in time.
But after these two plays, SKT's pressure spiked.
Worse still, bot lane got lane-killed again.
In earlier matches, bot lane could be covered by top and mid.
But now every lane was losing, and the game became suffocating.
8:37—SKT suffered a massive explosion!
TES mid-jungle linked up and ganked bot.
Even though Viego counter-ganked successfully, the combat power gap was enormous.
Especially Draven—his current damage output was explosive, and Zeri simply couldn't compare.
Plus, TES had too much CC.
Gumayusi didn't even get to Flash before he returned to fountain…
SKT fought desperately and only managed to trade for Leona.
Meanwhile, JackeyLove cashed in one kill, and Lin Fan grabbed a double.
Everything was so smooth that Lin Fan changed his build plan.
Why not go Luden's?
First time facing SKT and they were being this polite.
11:53—Twisted Fate's ult came back up, and Lin Fan targeted bot again.
Because this play could directly take bot outer turret.
A bot "cash machine" only gets bigger the more you withdraw—of course you keep coming bot.
Ding!
Gold Card out—Zeri lost nearly half her HP.
That was the terrifying damage of Luden's plus Sheen.
Once Lich Bane was done, it would be W-A-Q-A—instant delete…
"Holy crap, Fan-ge's damage is that insane?" JackeyLove looked at Zeri's corpse and actually felt pity.
When Twisted Fate builds to assassinate, the only one who suffers is the ADC.
Sure enough, at 13:47, Lin Fan caught Zeri again—landed, full combo, instant delete!
The freshly built Mejai's immediately gained four stacks.
While TF was blooming, JackeyLove also caught Zoe mid.
Draven isn't like normal ADCs.
He goes in to chop people and eat meat.
Mark understood JackeyLove perfectly—Flash Q into ult into E, hard-locking Zoe.
Draven three axes with crit, easy kill.
The game turned completely one-sided.
SKT kept "holding on," but losing was just a matter of time.
When Twisted Fate hit towers and a single Wild Card clipped Zoe and Zeri—taking half their HP—SKT even had thoughts of surrender.
But TES didn't need SKT's "mercy."
Tian saw both carries low and instantly popped Ghost—E and ult straight into the crowd.
One kick back—Zeri died on the spot…
The result: mid inhibitor and a nexus turret fell.
Most people's first instinct was that TES could end.
But TES played it safe.
For viewers, that was a good thing—one more minute watching SKT suffer.
And it really did play out that way.
Twisted Fate now held Luden's, Lich Bane, 25-stack Mejai's, and Rabadon's.
In simple terms: stunned equals dead.
No exceptions on SKT.
And the final victim… was Faker himself.
Maybe his reactions were slow, maybe his mind had gone blank.
Lin Fan threw a Gold Card into his face and Faker still didn't respond.
The Stopwatch he'd just bought never got used.
Stunned in place, unable to move.
Then one Wild Card plus an auto finished him off.
In the crowd, Lin Fan calmly pressed Zhonya's Hourglass.
His teammates swarmed in.
When the dust settled, only an empty SKT base remained—along with five corpses that couldn't withstand the damage.
Ace!
The sound echoed through the arena.
TES won without breaking a sweat.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup